Bain dives into the fight

By ALEXANDER BURNS

05/21/2012 02:49 PM EDT

Mitt Romney's former private equity firm is weighing in directly on the controversy over its acquisition of Ampad, the paper company that had one of its factories shuttered under Bain Capital management.

This just in from Bain's PR firm:

Throughout Bain Capital’s 28-year history, we have been focused on growing businesses and improving their operations. We acquired Ampad from Mead Corp. in 1992, and grew the overall business during the four years we controlled the company. The Marion plant was a challenging situation in a business that was performing well overall, growing revenues and adding jobs. Our control of Ampad ended in 1996, fully four years before it encountered financial difficulties due to overwhelming pressure from ‘big box”’ retailers, declines in paper demand, and intense foreign price pressures. Despite political attacks that emphasize the few companies that have struggled, the facts are that during Bain Capital’s ownership, revenues grew in 80 percent of the more than 350 companies in which we have invested.

I don't know if Bain's direct engagement is helpful to Romney, but one of the realities of the cycle is that Bain — and private equity more generally — have their own set of interests at stake in how this debate plays out.